A preview to cheadle town

This Saturday Cheadle Town make the trip to EGS to face Ashton for the first time this season. I personally have had a chance to see Cheadle play this season although it was way back on Tuesday 18th August, the same night Ashton were beaten 3-2 at home by Irlam.
That night I just remember driving past Macclesfield Town’s Moss Rose Ground (who were at home to Port Vale) and then on to a long and winding road that seemed to go nowhere. It did, however, end up in Leek. Before I could get to the end of that road though, I was greeted by Harrison Park, Home of Leek Town of the Unibond League and Leek CSOB who of course were Cheadle’s opponents on the night.
I’d taken one of them little pasta pot things from ASDA for my tea and as I’d arrived early I thought I’d relax and eat it whilst the two teams were on the pitch warming up in front of me. Half way through my tomato flavoured pasta pot I over filled my little plastic fork and as I went to shovel it all in to my gob I dropped the lot right down the front of my coat and onto my right trainee!!!
I could of done with a few goals that night to cheer me up. Apart form looking like a tramp with a bright orange stain down the front of my coat and on one trainee the night wasn’t too bad. Somehow the crowd of 45 never seen a goal that night but it wasn’t for both teams not trying. Leek Missed a penalty (I think it was Leek when I think back) and I also remember Cheadle hitting the post twice.  They looked a good side that night and deserved all three points.
The following Monday I seen Cheadle draw again this time away to Chadderton, twice coming from a goal down to end the game at 2-2. again they looked a good side that night.
Looking on ‘The Pole’s’ website www.chealdetownfc.com he has provided me with the following information:
The last four meetings between the two sides at EGS have all been won by one goal. Three of the last four years have been away wins for Cheadle coming by way of a 1-0 win in 2005/6 and 2007/8 and a 3-2 win last season. The other result, which was in 2006/7 was a 3-2 victory to Ashton.
 
Looking at the league website the last 5 matches for each team are as follows:
 
For Cheadle you have to go back to December
20/02/10 Cheadle 2-3 Atherton Cols
13/02/10 Irlam 2-3 Cheadle
06/02/10 AFC Blackpool 4-0 Cheadle
12/12/09 Oldham Boro 0-1 Cheadle
05/12/09 Cheadle 0-3 AFC Blackpool
 
For Ashton you don’t have to go as far back.
20/02/10 Norton 1-0 Ashton Town
16/02/10 Ashton Town 1-0 Eccleshall
13/02/10 Oldham Boro 1-1 Ashton Town
06/02/10 Wigan RP 2-4 Ashton Town
30/01/10 AFC Blackpool 2-0 Ashton Town
 
That makes me think that whatever happens on Saturday it is going to be a close game.
 
Onwards and Upwards

Two games, One week

The thing about reflections is that everthing you see on one side is the complete opposite of what you see on the other. That was how it was for Ashton this week in the two matches against Eccleshall and Norton.
Tuesday seen us play host to Eccleshall at EGS where one goal settled the game. The first half seen Eccleshall turn up at EGS and control the game as if they were the home side. Two good forwards and a solid midfield made Eccleshall a threat but for all the punches they threw, they failed to deliver the knockout blow. With players who thought 3 passes ahead and moved the ball round with ease Eccleshall really did impress. If it wasn't with the full back it was knocked short into Midfield before being played right and left. All in all it was very pleasing on the eye for a neutral but not for those in Town Colours.
Somehow Town managed to get to half time with the game still goalless.
In the second half Town finally woke up and 11 minutes in the killer blow was finally dealt, only not from Eccleshall but from Town who had been on the ropes for the first 45 minutes. One chance one goal, One punch one opposition well and truely knocked out. It was Shaun Judge who for the second time in as many matches put the ball into the back of the net. A free kick was awarded to Ashton on the angle about 40 yards from goal. The free kick was floated in and Judge got his header on target. The Eccleshall keeper palmed the ball away on the angle before Judge blasted the rebound past him before he could get back on his feet. Andy Hewitt made a few fine saves in the Ashton Goal as well as being spot on in his basics to keep a clean sheet. Sometimes in football you get results you don't deserve.
Like I said everything in a reflection is the opposite of what you seen in the original. Now lets take the second game of the week as the reflection. Instead of a Staffordshire based side travelling to Ashton, in the reflection it was Ashton who travelled to a Staffordshire based side. This time it was Norton United. With a few shuffles in the pack Ashton started relatively slowly. 11 minutes in and Lee Green played a suicidal pass across his own penalty area. Norton's Allen intercepted the pass and somehow managed to squeeze a shot in to the net off the post to put Norton 1-0 up. From then on it was all Ashton and after failing to convert chance after chance that was how it finished. It wasn't as simple as that though. For 79 minutes and with Norton one goal to the good they took on the tactic of wasting time. Somehow it worked, with a slight helping from a referee who didn't have the best of days, Although with out one you don't have a game. In that case they are as important as corner flags. As I just said without them there is no match. Chances by Judge, Baxby, Walton and Rolo all missed and just how Ashton never got at least an equaliser is beyond anybody. Once again you have to say Sometimes in football you get results you don't deserve. Ashton certainly didn't deserve to lose this one.

The two results for this week were:

Ashton Town 1 V 0 Eccleshall
Norton United 1 V 0 Ashton Town

Onwards and Upwards

Oldham Boro 1v1 Ashton Town

Was it a point gained or two points lost? Even in the warm up the pitch cut up everytime anyone moved on it. In the first half Ashton shot up the hill at the Whitebank Stadium. We never got out of bed at all and sruggled to get used to the conditions with people losing their footing time after time. There was nothing you could do about it though as everytime you tried to do something your standing foot moved from underneath you. The home side coped better in the first half and found themsleves a goal up on 17 minutes when a corner was crossed in, 'keeper Andy Hewitt misjudged his punch and Schofield finished with his head.
We seemed to wake up a bit after that and managed to battle our way through the first half and got to half time 1 down.
After half time Ashton shot down the hill and the whole flow of the game changed and it was Ashton who had the asscendancy. 4 minutes in and Ashton were awarded a penalty which Judgey 'cooly' placed right down the middle. There was still a few chances in the match but unfortunately ste dee, baxy and the most guilt edge chance which fell to Kev Hill all missed. Oldham also had a chance to steel it just a minute before Kev Hill's chance when somehow substitute Nsimbe broke through only for Andy Hewitt to pull of two great saves. The final Whistle blew to bring the game to an end and it finished at the whitebank stadium Oldham Town 1 Ashton Town 1. My thought is considering the conditions it was a point gained rather than two dropped.

Eccleshall provide the opposition for Tuesdays match at EGS.

Onwards and Upwards

Wigan RP 2 Ashton Town 4

Labelled by our friends at Wigan Robin Park as "The Pie Derby" the game left the Robins eating Humble pie rather than the Meat & Potato variety. Unfortunately I wasn't there for the start of the match as I went to Anfield to watch the Merseyside derby. With Liverpool gaining the 3 points the whistle blew and I ran the three quaters of a mile or so back to my car before jumping in it batman style to fly down the M58 to Robin Park from one derby to another. Going down the M58 was a story in it's self with fog thicker than Tyrone Dobbs I couldn't see 20 yards in front of me but "The Pie Derby" was more important than slowing down to worry about a bit of mist. By the time i'd got to the Wigan end of the M58 I'd left the fog behind, although it did catch up with me a bit later. Onto that 'A road' that goes through Pemberton was a bit of a pain, I kept getting stuck behind Vera and Mavis going to B&Q for the pensioners 10% off but I managed make it to Robin Park just before the Half hour mark. I got into the dugout to find us 2-0 up, Goals courtesy of Ste Eddy and Christian Baxby on 8 and 10 minutes respectively, only to see the minute I parked my rear on the bench a goal pulled back by McNally of Wigan RP to make it 2-1. Wigan played a few passes and we seemed to just let them through to go and score. Half time came with the scores at 2-1. After having our time in the dressing room and trying to put right the wrongs of the first half I managed to nip upstairs to see the Wigan RP secretary Taffy Roberts. Taffy is a true Gent in every sense of the word and he also provides lovely butties. Thanks Taff you're a credit to your Club. Butties shoved in my mouth we went back out for the second half. The half started as a bit of a midfield battle but about 10 minutes into the second half Wigan looked the better side and managed to equalise courtesy of a side footed, placed shot by substitute Small. 2-2.

From there on in the game turned into a real derby, fiesty, fast and a terrible referee. The sense of victory seemed to turn the residents of the Wigan Robin Park dugout into the raging lunatics, wanting to argue and fight with every one they could. It's a shame really because as I say they do have the likes of Taffy Roberts who are a credit only to be let down by other committee members who like to try and fight whenever they are getting beat. I refer to a few games that I've seen at the Arena namely AFC Liverpool, Atherton Cols and Chadderton.
So at 2-2 it was time to turn up the heat. A few rash challenges from Wigan RP were ignored by the referee whereas the replies from Ashton were immediately punished. The Fog that I had earlier left behind on the M58 had now well and truely caught up with me so we could hardly see the ball hit the back of the net when ste eddy slotted his second of the game on 76 minutes. We did see it enough to enjoy our celebrations in the technical area though. Four minutes later the game was wrapped up by substitute Kev Hill who made it 4-2 after 80 minutes. Cue the erruption in the Ashton dugout and the commencement of the Wigan bench tucking into a massive slice of Humble Pie. At that point we knew we only had to see out the rest of the game to get us back to winning ways. Even after the referee had added about 4 minutes on at the end we managed to deal with everything that Wigan threw at us which in all honesty wasn't that much. The final whistle went and the Wigan RP bench stormed into their dressing room without shaking hands because they were beaten by the better side on the day. I can't help but think that if the result was the other way round they woud of been the first ones offering their hand after the final whistle. After a little congratulations in the dressing room Taffy once again laid on the butties which were readily appreciated by all. After a butty and a drink it was time to head home with our 3 points in the bag. Well Done Boys

Wigan Robin Park 2 Ashton Town 4 Onwards and Upwards

The trip to Robin Park via Blackpool but not Cheadle

Well the less said about our trip to Blackpool last week the better. Instead of enjoying what George Formby describes as a "little stick of Blackpool Rock" Town suffered a major headache that turned into an full blown hangover as the game progressed. So instead of having a moan about what we did or didn't do in Saturdays 2-0 defeat at the home of the formerly known mechanics I think i will bemoan something else.



Once again we fell victim to the snow as our visit to SK8 to face a Cheadle side who are just praying for a game of football in any shape or form was called off at about 2 o'clock. Cheadle's Park Road ground was frozen and with the falling snow resting on top it was too hazardous to play. That leaves us with 5 games yet to be arranged. SO much for Global warming. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise and only time will tell. Lets look at it from both sides. The Liverpool Senior Cup Quater Final Tie against Liverpool Reserves took a lot more out of us than we expected so the rest may do us a favour but the other angle is that the best cure for a bad performance is to get out there and play your heart out in the next game, which most players prefer to be as soon after the bad performance as possible.
It is worth noting that 6 of Liverpool reserves starting 11 against Town have just been included in Liverpool's Europa League Squad so no wonder it took something out of us.



So now onto a little preview of our short trip up the A49 to the Robin Park Arena to face local rivals Wigan Robin Park.

The Robins sit in 7th position on 22 points after 14 games. That's 7 points ahead of us and Wigan RP also have two games in hand.
Last time out which was Saturday just gone Wigan were beaten 2-0 at Silver Street by Irlam. To get the Robins last 5 league results you have to go back to before the last time they played us which was the 31st October! Thank you snow. Anyway here are Wigan RP's last 5 results:
24th Oct Wigan RP 1v2 AFC Liverpool
14th Nov Wigan RP 3v2 Irlam
21st Nov Wigan RP 2v3 Eccleshall
1st Dec Wigan RP 3v0 Oldham Boro
30th Jan Irlam 2v0 Wigan RP

So for the Robins in the last 5 league matches they have won 2 and lost 3 compared to Ashtons record of won 4 lost 1.

The match takes place at 3pm on Saturday 6th February at the Robin Park Arena, Loire Drive, Wigan, WN5 0UH in the shadows of the DW Stadium.

Come on Town. Onwards and Upwards